despite Blanc being sent off five minutes later for violent conduct towards Slaven Bilić, France held on for a 2–1 win and a place in the final. Blanc's red card was the only one he received in his entire career, and meant that he was suspended for the final. Bilić's reaction implied that Blanc had struck him on the head in the incident, but video replays showed that the impact had been to his chest or chin, and the incident is often cited as one of the most controversial in the competition's history. Pre-match Brazil were considered the favourites by bookmakers before the match, with odds of 4–6 for them to win the tournament, compared with 6–5 for France. Match officials Said Belqola of Morocco was selected to referee the final. An amateur referee who worked as a customs officer professionally, he had begun officiating in 1983 before being selected to referee international matches in 1993. Prior to the 1998 World Cup he had refereed two matches each at the 1996 and 1998 African Cup of Nations, including the final of the latter tournament, between South Africa and Egypt. At the 1998 World Cup he had refereed the Argentina vs Croatia and Germany vs United States group games. The assistant referees were Mark Warren of England and Achmat Salie of South Africa, while Saudi Arabia's Abdul Rahman Al-Zaid was the fourth official. Team selection In what was later described by writers for BBC Sport as the "great World Cup final mystery", Ronaldo was omitted from the official teamsheet which Zagallo presented to FIFA at 7:48 p.m. local time (5:48 p.m. UTC), 72 minutes before kick off, with Edmundo named in his place. Reporters for the BBC and other media received the news shortly after 8 p.m. and had not expected this development, with John Motson describing scenes of "absolute mayhem and chaos" in the commentary box. At 8:18 p.m., however, Brazil submitted a modified teamsheet with Ronaldo's name reinstated. It was revealed several years later that Ronaldo had suffered a convulsive fit on the afternoon of the final, had lost consciousness and spent three hours in hospital, but decided shortly before the match began that he still wished to play. With the exception of Cafu, who had been suspended for Brazil's semi-final match and returned in place of Zé Carlos, Brazil therefore named an unchanged side with Edmundo on the